Scorching Ascension - [Progression Litrpg Apocalypse]

Having a tier-4 spell be offered to him had not been on Ethan's list of possibilities. In fact, it had never happened to him, in all of his upgrades. Never had a spell evolution process offered him to jump a whole tier.

"Good to know that it's possible," he said to himself. Unfortunately, it was the absolute worst option of the bunch, and as he read through the description of [Mana Heart of the Blooming Maw], Ethan felt a shiver run down his back. Partially because it hadn't even been 24 hours since he'd seen what eldritch magic could do, and partially because it actually looked like an amazing spell.

I bet it has side effects. But it's concerning that that is not being disclosed, he thought to himself. Ethan wondered why that was. Was this specific spell not as bad as the one he'd encountered? Was it because the man he'd fought had been dealing with the eldritch influence directly in his Prime Arcanum? Or did the madness depend on other factors?

Ethan looked at the spell for a few more seconds, considering the factors that could play a role in the decline of one's sanity, but he quickly realized he just didn't have enough facts to tell which from which and in any case, he wasn't about to start testing this all on his own self. Not when a perfectly tailored spell had been offered to him.

"Well, maybe not perfect. If it had been a [Draconic Heart] it would have been better. But I'd take this over mind-melting Eldritch bullshit any day," he said, reading through the description of [Emberborn Heart].

The new heart was perfect for him, and while he did pass on the fire-themed option when selecting the claws, he felt good about returning to his roots when it came to the heart. And he was happy to see that this new spellform would allow him to minimize mana-exhaustion when it came to use fire spells.

I like the heat and damage storing mechanic, he thought as he dismissed the [Mana Heart] spellform and confirmed his selection. And while I hope I never find myself cornered badly enough to need that last boost, it's good to have it around.

As the spell evolved and changed, Ethan noted how interesting it was seeing the effect of the primagem of Last Breath and how it gave the spell a little something-something for when he was at the end of his ropes.

"I wonder if I can force the upgrades somehow," he mused as he picked up the two mid-grade primagems before he stuffed them back in the pouch. So far, he'd been arraying the primagems he had at his disposal and just… hoped for the best. But was there a way to just force the selection to use a specific set of primagems?

Pulling up the ones that remained, he eyed them for a second, scratching his back as he did.

Primagems:

Low-grade: 3 Hardening, 3 Crystallization, 1 Lightning, 1 Barrier, 1 Slowing, 3 Water, 3 Stone, 1 Draining.

"Yeah… if I could decide on the resulting spell, it'd be a little better. Though giving the System some options hadn't hurt me either."

Ethan stared at the list for a second, then turned his attention to the remaining spells he had at his disposal. "Oh… I should assimilate the new ones too," he said as he dug back into the pouch.

Assimilate [Heal (Tier-1)] from spellcore?

Assimilate [Sunshard (Tier-3)] from spellcore?

Assimilate [Wall of Fire (Tier-2)] from spellcore?

Assimilate [Enlarge (Tier-2)] from spellcore?

Ethan confirmed all the prompt and fingers wiggling, he was about to test some of them when he refrained and looked around.

Wouldn't want to ruin my nice clean cabin, he mused. Eying the various description Ethan found all the new spells to be pretty straightforward. All but the last. Bringing up its definition, Ethan leaned over and read it.

Enlarge (Tier-2): Increases the size of enhancer spellforms, armaments, projectiles, and the areas of effect. Mildly increase the power of affected spells for an increased mana cost.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"It's kind of a global [Extended Enhancement], but a little more vague."

It wasn't bad. It also wasn't anything to write home about, but Ethan was sure he'd find a use for it.

Next, he turned his attention to the Arcanum upgrades. But between the 1000 fragments he just spent, he didn't have much for a new large upgrade, so he just finished bringing the third Arcanum up to speed, having it fully match the second in upgrades, then he bought the last available mana upgrade for the both of them.

"This way, the only upgrades available for the Lesser Arcanums are the upgrades to tier-4," Ethan said. Then glancing toward his Prime Arcanum, he hummed.

I'm getting close to the tier-3 upgrade. I'm up to 200 Essence points. Now I just need the fragments and 50 more Essence for the tier upgrade there. That'll be the next goal, he thought as he got up with a groan.

Letting out a long sigh, Ethan stood up and stretched. Glancing out toward the window, he considered heading back out to test the new spells, but a yawn told him otherwise.

Gotta get some rest. I'll do all that later. That and dealing with the Union and the Brotherhood, he thought as he trudged toward the shower, dropping his clothes one at a time, only stopping when he was right in front of the shower knob.

This would be his first real shower in a week.

Picking up the little piece of paper on top of the bar of soap, Ethan smiled.

"She's damn everywhere," he said as he turned on the water, letting Amanda's note that just said 'enjoy' fall a few feet away on the wooden floorboard.

***

Amanda's POV

Still in the roofless and wall-less meeting room, Amanda tapped her pen against her notebook, eyes staring vacantly ahead as she considered the pylon upgrades they had at their disposal. Between the two settlements and the ongoing taxation, they'd be able to afford at least two module upgrades. She just had to choose which.

Not the next pylon tier though… that'll take a minute. But I can't wait. Guild modules… rift management and rift harvesting? I bet those would be game changers. And I wonder if the guild stuff would be our key to the outside worlds.

Or was it just a local guild system?

Nah, that'd make no sense. Why lock it under the tier-3 upgrade if it was that simple? I bet it comes with some administrative functionalities, but there must be a reason why it's locked behind an upgrade that costs so damn much, she thought as she brought up the upgrade in question.

Tier-3: Unlock the tier-3 tier, which would unlock the guild, rift management, and rift harvesting modules, as well as the tier-3 upgrades for all other modules - 1000000 fragments, 50 tier-2 riftcores, 10 tier-3 riftcores

"It's obvious," she mumbled, lifting her pen up. "Whatever it is that's setting these guidelines, it wants us to be well established before it opens up the guild system. I mean… 50 tier-2 riftcores? We only have a handful at this point. Tier-3 riftcores? That'd be after the tier-3 rifts start popping up. And we'd have to be capable of clearing them."

A smile stretched across her lips. It was all so… exciting. She had to make sure they were the first to unlock that tier. And for that, she had to free up Ethan so he'd steamroll through all the rifts that'd pop up so he was ready for the tier-3s when they'd show up.

"Alright, let's focus."

Cutting off her musing, she looked down at her own handwritten notes. Taking a deep breath, she read through the resumed and shortened options once more.

Upgrade options - Current balance: 27k fragments

Taxation module - tier-2 - 10k: Opens a contribution point system. Good for internal trade.

Communication module - tier-2 - 10k: Opens communication with foreign pylons. Pretty wide range. Would help us getting started on locating people and families

Defensive module - tier-2 - 15k: More sentinels who can use the pylon's spells. Two more offensive spells slots, bringing the total to 3, gives us a free barrier spell for all pylons.

Construction module - tier-2 - 15k: renovation and reparation options that'd let us patch up old buildings, storefronts with optional storage and preservation enchantments, civic and communal buildings, better housing.

Reconnaissance module - tier-2 - 20k: rift forecast before they spill out. Mana levels forecast. More details about the rift before we have to get there to see them. Alerts when they get open through the communication module.

Now, would be best to start with?